Is journalism still worth the risk?

Whereas in the old days correspondents belonged to news organisations and were thus taken responsibility for, today they go out on their own, 'winging it', sometimes without even the money for a flight home, just hoping to sell one more story in order to make it happen. They certainly don't have the protection of powerful organisations who can airlift them out in dire circumstances. They live and die alone.

Most newshounds would be quick to argue in support the fourth estate - that journalism is a vital part of democratic life. That when it works, it really works: who can forget the searing image of the 'napalm girl' which helped turn opinion on the Vietnam War?

But how can we continue to do so without adequate support for those who put themselves out there, and now knowing that, at least in the United States, the journalism profession has such a tarnished reputation.

Peter says about Foley: "Now that he’s gone, I wish I could believe that such an extraordinary person died striving to inform an American public yearning to know the truth. It’s harder to accept what really happened, which is that he died while people eagerly formed opinions on his profession and the topics he covered without bothering to read the stories he put in front of them."